Too Late to Win Me Back

"You have about a month left," the documentary filmmaker said quietly. "How would you like your final video to be recorded?" The woman sitting across from Katherine Rivera looked as if she were fighting back tears. Katherine didn't answer right away. She sat there for a moment, thinking. Then she said firmly, "Release the videos after I'm gone. It'll be the only thing I leave behind for Spencer." More importantly, she didn't want Spencer Hopkins thinking she was staging some dramatic farewell just to compete with another woman. Nina Chambers' eyes instantly filled with tears. "How could you say that? You and Mr. Hopkins have been together for ten years. Everyone knows how much he loves you. People talk about you two like you're a fairy-tale couple." Katherine gave a small, humorless smile. She used to believe that too. That was before she learned Spencer had a four-year-old child with another woman. "Nina... Let's start here. I already know what I want the first episode to be called." She looked directly into the lens. Her voice was calm as she spoke, sorrowful in her eyes. "Spencer... if you're watching this, I'm already gone." The room fell silent. For a long moment, the only sound was Nina quietly sniffing while trying to keep the camera steady. Katherine reached over and squeezed her hand. "Such a crybaby... You still chose this job? If you keep filming people's final stories, you're going to cry through every single one." Nina sniffled, trying to hold back her tears. "That's not it. It's just... You and Mr. Hopkins love each other so much. I can't stand the thought of something tearing you apart." Katherine didn't reply. Everyone believed Spencer loved her more than anything. They had been together for ten years, married for five. Spencer remembered every tiny thing about her. He held her hand every time they left the house. When he came home from work, he wrapped his arms around her before he even took off his coat. Once, years ago, there had been a fire. Spencer ran straight into the flames to pull her out. She survived without a scratch. He almost didn't. That was the man everyone believed in, the man who supposedly loved her more than his own life. And yet that same man now had a child with someone else who was already four years old. Katherine let out a quiet breath. "Come on," she said to Nina. "Let's go film episode one." 'November 20, 2024. Episode One of my Final Record.' Katherine drove Nina to an office building downtown. Inside, they sat across from a clerk behind a desk. Nina had no idea what Katherine was planning to do, but she kept the camera rolling. "Ms. Rivera, are you certain you want to file for divorce and have your identity records erased?" He looked stunned. Behind the camera, Nina looked up in disbelief. Katherine didn't hesitate. She nodded firmly. "Yes." "And Mr. Hopkins?" the clerk asked. "He doesn't need to know. In a month, I'll be leaving the place, and I'll never come back." What she didn't say was the reason why. 'Because I'll already be dead.' Nina's eyes filled with tears again. The clerk gathered the paperwork. "All right. Everything will be finalized in one month. We'll notify you when the process is complete." Katherine signed the documents and stood up. Then she walked out of the building with Nina. Outside, Nina finally asked the question she had been holding back. "Katherine... Why are you divorcing Mr. Hopkins and erasing your identity? Is it because you don't want to burden him?" Suddenly, memories of the past three months flooded back. That woman, standing there teary-eyed with her child, was enough to make Spencer fall for her. Eventually, whatever Spencer gave Katherine, that woman would have it too. Katherine didn't answer. Instead, she took out her phone. She scheduled an abortion procedure for seven days later. There was no point in keeping the baby. She was going to die anyway. And Spencer already had a child. A month earlier, Katherine had rushed to the hospital after discovering she was pregnant. Instead, she was told she had a terminal illness. She had only one month left to live, and there was no cure. The doctor advised her to go home and prepare for her funeral. Just as a new hope for life had sparked, it was crushed by a far crueler reality. She wandered the streets afterward in a daze. That was when she met Nina. At the time, Nina filmed documentaries about people facing the end of their lives. But she hadn't had a client in months and was about to quit. She was sitting on the curb crying. Katherine stopped to comfort her. By the end of the conversation, Katherine became her final client. The documentary Nina would film would be the last thing Katherine ever left behind for Spencer. Ten years ago, Katherine lost both her parents within the same year. Spencer was the one who reached out his hand and pulled her back. "I'll take care of you," he told her. Those words stayed with her for ten years. They gave her the strength to stand beside him through everything. Back then, she told him something. "If you ever stop loving me, or if you meet someone you love more, you must tell me truthfully. You can't lie to me. Otherwise, I will leave you forever." At the time, they both believed their love would last forever. Ten years later, Katherine was preparing to erase everything they had ever shared, including herself. 'Spencer. If you can't choose... Then I'll choose for you. From now on, I'll disappear from your life completely forever.'